retired_destiny1124

21.10.06
Thurrock (0) Harrow Hill (1)
In one of our best performances of the season, we managed to win a closely played 1-0 match over Thurrock at Ship Lane. The only goal in the match came midway through the first half when Stephen Reid put away a shot past Preston Edwards after receiving a fine pass from Stephen Place. We worked very hard with the lead and our backline played superbly today- led by MOM Cathal Feeney. They assisted us with their poor shooting, but Craig Farr's clean sheet was earned early in the second half when he palmed away a blast from Gary Fisken.

retired_destiny1124

28.10.06
Harrow Hill (0) Histon (0)
In the end we had to be satisfied with a scoreless draw, as we didn't show quite the same level of determination and execution we had in our last couple matches. Histon played a bit better than us and Craig Farr had to come up with several timely saves to keep us in the point for the match. Stephen Place earned MOM honours, but there were really no outstanding players today as both sides lacked the verve needed for an exciting match.

retired_destiny1124

4.11.06
Harrow Hill (1) Waltham Abbey (3) FA Trophy 2nd Qualifying Round
To say I was disappointed in our effort today was an understatement- and I let the players know that. All three goals we gave up were on set pieces and it was our inability to maintain our focus that killed us in this 3-1 loss at Larksfield Road. They took the lead early in the first half when Steve Harrison leapt above Karl Johnson and deflected a corner past James Evans. We hit back quickly and Paul Furse scored his 1st goal for us when he took the ball away from Waltham keeper Mark Cooney as he dawdled and rifled his shot into the goal. Waltham took the lead to halftime when Jon O'Donnell whipped a 30 yard blast in off the right upright past Evans. We attempted to rally, but Cooney played well and saw his backline- led by MOM Philip Lamb- help immensely as we tried to pressure them. They clinched the match when Andrew Estel was called for a push on Tommy Clarke in the area and David Norton converted the penalty kick to help broom us out of the FA Trophy.

retired_destiny1124

8.11.06
Yeading (1) Harrow Hill (0)
We had our chances in the match, including a penalty kick early in the first half, but failed to do enough to earn the needed goals as we fell to Yeading 1-0 at The Warren. After Michael Yates was tripped by Luke Howell in the area, Stephen Reid stepped up- and saw Brian McKenna get a hand on his penalty kick to palm it away. Yeading scored shortly after when MOM Jeff Goulding raced unmarked up the pitch and fired a low shot into the far left corner of the goal past Craig Farr. Michael Yates, who is really struggling to score, missed not one, but two sitters later in the first half. We tried to get the equalizer quickly in the second half, but good tackling by their backline helped deny us. It was a difficult match to not see us take at least a point from it.

retired_destiny1124

11.11.06
Harrow Hill (0) Braintree (0)
Another match where our problems finishing cost us a better result. I do have to give Braintree credit as they worked hard in the midfield and on their backline in supporting Ross Flitney. Our backline also played well and David Hall was awarded MOM honours for the match. We came closest to scoring late in the first half when Stephen Reid shot just wide when sent in free. Craig Farr made the saves we needed him to in putting up his clean sheet.

retired_destiny1124

18.11.06
Harrow Hill (1) Bishop's Stortford (1)
A match that we clearly should have won, but were undone by failing to capitalize on our chances and making one large defensive mistake. The first half was scoreless, but we played well and were in control of most of the half. Stephen Reid came close, but was just wide on his rising shot to the left post. We finally found a way to score on Chris Wright early in the second half as Michael Gahan picked up a loose ball just inside the edge of the area and fired it past Wright inside the far right post. I really thought we could win this one, but the mistake belonged to Craig Farr as he tried to punch away a long cross. It went right to Jack Midson and he had an easy time slotting his shot into the empty goal. It was close to an offside call and my players protested in vain as the Referee and Assistant let the goal stand. Reid came close again in the late moments, but again his shot was just wide. Gahan was awarded MOM honours and Farr sprained his wrist on the play that the goal was scored on and will miss a week or two.

retired_destiny1124

29.11.06
I allowed Michael Love to leave on free transfer to go back to Australia. Wanneroo wanted to add him and Michael hasn't shown enough to earn any Senior playing time- so it made sense to let him move back home. Shedding his salary also got us closer to being in line with the Board's budget.

***

2.12.06
Lewes (1) Harrow Hill (1)
Another match that we could have won, but failed to hold the lead. We played very well in our trip to The Dripping Pan and took the lead from the home side when Ian Barnes tripped Michael Yates in the area. Stephen Place showed why he is our skipper as he stepped up and calmly converted the penalty kick for his 1st goal for us. Things looked even better when Gerry Gill earned a redcard at 32 minutes for a nasty 2-footed tackle. Instead we allowed them to equalize when Mark Revins drove a 20 yard free kick past James Evans off the inside of the right upright. We tried to force the play, but Paul Wilkerson was very solid in goal for them. The second half was entertaining as they used their pace advantage to counter-attack. We hit the crossbar behind Wilkerson and they lost a goal on an obvious offsides call. I dearly wanted a win with a man advantage, but we were forced to settle for the draw.

retired_destiny1124

9.12.06
Harrow Hill (2) Havant & W (3)
We finally muster some offense, but then play as poor a match defensively as we have all season and lose 3-2 to Havant & W at Larksfield Road. We took the lead when Michael Yates, on for injured Stephen Reid, finally broke his long scoreless streak by driving a shot past Shane Gore. Havant then hit back for a quickfire double- both on goals that were gifts from our poor play. Philip Quinlan made a terrible clearance- right to Adam Lallana- and Lallana made us pay by blasting the ball past Craig Farr. Farr then added to our problems with an uncharacteristically bad mistake as he dallied and Carl Wilson-Denis took it away from him before driving it into the open goal from 30 yards. We fought back and Michael Gahan made Gore pay for a poor punch by slamming it past him to even things at 2-2. When Yates also went down to injury- thanks to rough tackling from the visitors, we were forced to use a patchwork lineup in the second half. It didn't work very well, but we still seemed set for a 2-2 draw until Quinlan gave the ball away to allow them a counter-attack in second half injury time. Karl Johnson didn't run a ball down on the sideline and that allowed a cross into Rocky Baptiste. Baptiste earned MOM honours as he flicked a header past Farr for the dramatic match winner. It was a brutal way to lose a match that we had played hard, but not well, in. Reid suffered a fractured arm and will be out for awhile now.

retired_destiny1124

16.12.06
Newport (0) Harrow Hill (3)
After such a bad match, we come back and thanks to brilliant work by James Evans in goal- defeat Newport convincingly 3-0. Evans, filling in for slightly injured Craig Farr, showed flashes of why I was so glad to get him to work with Farr as he earned MOM honours for a dazzling performance in keeping a clean sheet despite many good chances for the home side as our backline struggled to effectively mark anyone. Offensively, once Mark Yates got one goal- now he is raining them in. A good pass from Andrew Estel, now installed as a starting midfielder, allowed him to tee up a blast that eluded Tony Pennock to give us the lead midway through the first half. We quickly added a second goal when Adrian Cregg deflected a cross from Yates past Pennock for his 1st goal at Harrow Hill. Yates then made it a brace when he whipped a shot past Pennock after a fine pass from Karl Johnson early in the second half. We more or less held on from there and leaned heavily on Evans as he impressed everyone with his fine effort in earning the clean sheet.

retired_destiny1124

21.12.06
It was encouraging to finally get midfielder Bill McDonald back in full training after he has missed the last three months thanks to a badly broken ankle. I also brought up Sam Doherty from the Under-18s as I think he can help us in the midfield. As we near the opening of the transfer window, I am considering trying to shed several players.

***

26.12.06
Harrow Hill (1) Farnborough (0)
Struggling Farnborough, who had 10 points deducted at the beginning of the season and are desperate to avoid relegation, gave us a great match at Larksfield Road. We managed to come out on top of this closely played match with a beautiful second half goal- though there was some dispute whether offside should have been called. Farnborough had us under pressure early in the match and it was thanks to Craig Farr and solid backline play that we went to halftime locked in a scoreless draw. We played a stronger second half and scored the lone goal halfway through. Karl Johnson made a nice move on the dribble and then sent a picture perfect cross to the far post that Peter Adeniyi deflected past Jonty Venter for his 1st goal at Hill. We had to survive their furious rally, but they fortunately missed close twice on excellent chances. Adeniyi earned MOM honours in the match.

***

27.12.06
Our last two wins have propelled us up into 7th place in the ECS as we reach the midway point of the season. That position is pretty tenuous as we are currently tied with 4 other clubs with 28 points total, but our goal differential of +5 puts us at the head of that group. There are two more clubs with 27 points and two more with 26 points, so one loss could easily drop us 8 places in the standings. We are 7 points up on Yeading, the club currently in 20th- atop the relegation group, and that is what I am more concerned about. Overall, our defense has been what is allowing us to be competitive and our 14 goals yielded is 3rd lowest in ECS. Our offense finally woke up- and some of that has to be because of moving Michael Gahan up to forward. Michael Yates has also finally started scoring, which has helped. We added 25 year old Scot forward Lee Wilson after signing him off the free transfer list. Wilson is pretty much a carbon copy of Stephen Reid, except is left-footed and should help us with cover up front through the remainder of the season. I don't really plan on any transfer purchases- as the Board would much rather I drop our weekly wages a little.